Eight Years
by dynamitelass360
Summary: Eight years ago, Speedy was abducted. He was liberated by his clone and took up the name Arsenal. But, what happened in those eight years? What happened to the original Roy Harper?
1. Chapter 1

Eight years. Eight years lost, so easily. Eight years, stolen, not lost. They weren't misplaced, but taken, like his arm was.

He still feels that phantom limb, after he takes off the cyborg arm for the night and imagines how it felt to hold his bow. He feels like he has a ghost arm, still lingering, and he often woke up, the first night in the hospital, desperately trying to reach without the limb.

He can't sleep; he had eight years of it, too much. He's had his fill and he feels like his life might slip away again if he closes his eyes too long. It has been too long, too cold, and he feels like everything is too far gone to reclaim it again. He's still addled by drugs and painkillers and he wasn't lying when Ollie and Red Arrow had asked him what he remembered- a whole lot of nothing, mostly at that point.

But, it started coming back, in fragments and flashes. However, he still can't get much of a hold on what he should remember; it's less substantial than air.

"It's Cadmus policy to delete the source material!"

Voices. He could hardly focus.. why was it so hard to move? Look. Listen. Pain. Where was he?

"So, why is he still alive?"

He needed to get out of here.. He couldn't move. Someone was shining a light. Too bright. His eyes were burning. Goddammit. Take the goddam light away!

"He'll still be of use." He knew that voice. Who was it? Focus, Roy!

"The longer he's kept alive the more dangerous it becomes for all of us. The league might find him." Yes, Ollie would be looking for him. Please, Ollie hurry. Dinah, Barry, Hal, Batman, Superman, anyone, please, help me, save me. Don't let me die here.

"Nonsense, they believe him to be safe and sound. The clone will infiltrate the league for us."

Clone? They cloned him? He felt white hot anger in his veins. GET UP! He screamed in his head. MOVE! But, his body wasn't responding.

* * *

_"He was never our friend."_

He had saved Roy Harper. Or had he only resurrected a shell of the boy who had been captured? He remembered what Wally had said and it was true. They thought Roy to be dead, that he should have given up and lived his life like that Roy should have had. It was cruel that he had gotten Roy's life, his rightful place. But, still he had kept searching and finally, liberated Roy Harper.

_"Speedy was abducted before any of us met."_

What did it matter? He was still the first Speedy? He still needed to be saved!

_"All done? You want to salvage someone's soul?"_

Salvage whatever might remain of the left for dead Roy Harper's soul.

* * *

"Hello there, Speedy."

Roy was able to open his eyes. He tried to move. He couldn't.

Someone was standing in the shadows off to his left. "Who are you?" he demanded, hoarsely. His voice was dry and scratchy, like he had been screaming for days.

"I'm as close to a friend as you'll get in this place. Don't speak out loud from this point on."

The voice was in his head. A monster stepped out of the shadows, upright like a person but with horns and blue skin. What the hell?

He felt incredibly itchy, bugs felt like they were burrowing in his skin, he tried to move his right arm. Nothing. He turned his head. It was gone from the elbow. Jesus Christ. "What did you bastards do to my arm?!" he yelled in a panic. Why would they do a thing like that?

"They amputated your arm to have enough genetic code to produce clones with." Roy struggled again against his bindings, it was useless, he fell back against the metal, his mind was too fogged to process much of this.

"The Light will, of course, use your clones for their bidding." The blue horned man continued.

"It's going to bring down the League?"

"And one will remain here. At Cadmus."

"What is Cadmus?" Roy felt bile rise in his throat, all these clones would be using his face to bring down the Justice League.

"You will find out soon enough. They are coming down here, now." He began to approach Roy, syringe in hand.

"Wait!" he yelled it out loud. Shaking, he wondered what body part he would lose if they drugged him again. "Please, wait."

He paused, the tip of the needle hovered over his bound left wrist.

"Please, just contact Green Arrow or somebody, don't do this." He was begging, he hated how weak it sounded, but there was no other option, he didn't want to die here.

The creature shook his head. "It's Cadmus policy to delete the source material. You would be dead if Luthor hadn't suggested another use for you."

"That's right." Lex Luthor said , as he walked in. Roy felt his heart stop. The Lex Luthor, the one who's company he was investigating when he was captured.

"You bastard!" he thrashed in his bindings. "It doesn't matter if you replace me! Everyone will figure it out! And then you're dead Luthor!"

Lex Luthor only smiled. "Really? It appears everyone has taken to the clone and they suspect nothing. Green Arrow was relieved to have found you, alive and well."

"No." Roy whispered. No. How could Ollie do this to him? He was going to die here.

"Luckily, I have found another use for the original. I would hate to have you just sitting around frozen, taking up space. You will be going on covert mission for me. The rest of the time, you will be returned to your pod and frozen for safe keeping."

"I refuse."

"I thought you would say that. But, you don't have a choice in the matter." Luthor picked up one of the syringes. "See that? That's Deathstroke's serum. The same drug he uses on his daughter, to make her cooperative. You will have no complaints after this. And the best part, it's addictive."

The needle was plunged in. The world faded to black.

"Goodbye, Roy Harper."


	2. Chapter 2

He ran away. He had left behind his teammates. But, not even the worry for them was enough to cause him to turn back. Not with the chance of getting captured again. He had panicked. There was a persistent scream in his head urging him to "get away, get away, now!" He saw himself being grabbed again.

The dark passages of War World had transformed into the warehouse where the Light had abducted him. He felt the same shame and guilt at allowing himself to be kidnapped. It was his own damn fault. Roy had thought he could handle it.

He saw himself becoming a weapon for the Light. What would they take from him this time? His sanity, arm, and life had already been stolen. He could breathe only in short, heaving gasps. He was hyperventilating, nearly blacking out from the sheer panic. There was nothing to do, but blindly run deeper into War World.

The chance of being captured again had been the only thing he had on his mind after getting out of the hospital.

It wasn't paranoia or an obsession. Even if it ate up his thoughts and time as he thought of the various ways he could be taken again and prepared by taking more weapons, more supplies, and training as much as he could. He hadn't slept for many weeks, when he did, it only brought nightmares and his screaming scared Ollie, Dinah, and Red Arrow, who were worried about Roy, and tried to convince him to talk to a psychiatrist. But, Arsenal did not need therapy. He wasn't crazy. He was prepared, ready for anything.

"I'm fine." He had insisted, after the night he had tried to attack Red Arrow, terrified after a vivid dream, and convinced that Red Arrow, who had heard his cries for help, was an agent of the Light or Reach come to take him.

He hadn't attempted to sleep again after that night. The look on Ollie's and Dinah's face, their concern, their look of pity, sickened Roy. It made him feel small, weak, and helpless. He wasn't going to be a victim again.

"No one's putting me on ice again."

They wouldn't. Never again.

That was his new mantra.

notagainnotagain

It was a continuous loop in his head.

Blue Beetle had just knocked Impulse unconscious. He had taken out Guardian, Beast Boy, and even Wondergirl was trapped under the weight of and unconscious Mongul.

Roy had backed away, nearly paralyzed with fear and the urge to get away; to do something was all consuming. But, he couldn't attack. He had broken into a cold sweat. That night eight years ago flashed in his mind.

"No. Not again. I will not be taken again!" He would rather die than be taken again. He willed himself to move. The airlock. Open the airlock. Send the bastard to space.

Roy vaguely thought he heard someone scream, "Arsenal! NO!" But, it seemed so far off and the airlock opened, sucking sphere in to space, pulling everyone, including himself, into the vast void. Blue Beetle was pulled toward it, even with his thrusters. Roy was slipping, Bumblebee and Robin had lost hold of the floor and were tumbling back. The oxygen in the room was nearly gone.

Then, he hit the floor.

Gasping for air, he heard the cries of Robin and Bee as they were hit by Beetle's sonic canon.

"Why?" Superboy rasped to Beetle.

"Don't waste your breath _hermano, _there's very little left in here."

Arsenal had already taken out his rebreather. His mind still screamed, get out, get away! He shot a line up to a higher level, to escape above Blue Beetle's head.

He didn't notice in his panic, that Superboy had protected him from Blue Beetle's attack and had been taken out.

Roy had escaped at the cost of his teammates.

It was another thing he'd never forgive himself for.


	3. Chapter 3

This is where the story begins. It begins after the death of Roy Harper.

The Light had already begun collecting others for the covert ops team. In the end a loose collection of a sidekick, runaway, thief and two children of Deathstroke had been kidnapped, drugged, controlled, and trained until they were all combat ready.

Eddie Bloomberg's hero had always been Blue Devil. He wanted nothing more than to be like his hero. His wish came true when he turned twelve and his innate metagene awakened. It caused immediate panic. He had transformed into a devil like creature breathing fire and brim stone. His parents called an exorcist, who left the house at a run shortly after laying eyes on him. It was hard to even touch Eddie because his skin was so hot. They threw him out. He had been trying to get in touch with Blue Devil when he was kidnapped.

Tara Markov had lived in Markovia all her life. She had her brother had become targets for the extremist group hoping to topple the monarchy. She had been kidnapped, forced to join them, until her metagene awakened. She caused a great earthquake and escaped to find herself in the middle of the Alps. There she was found by a kindly white haired man who promised her answers about her powers, but instead sedated and shipped her to Cadmus.

Rose and Joseph Wilson were the children of Deathstroke. They were from different mothers. In an assassination attempt Slade Wilson had saved his son's life, but the assassin's blade had still slit Joseph's throat, leaving him mute. Rose Wilson Worth was her father's apprentice; he injected her with the same serum that gave him his powers. But, at the cost of her sanity.

Joseph discovered his own powers. He could jump into the mind of another and control them.

Rose had precognitive powers of her own. She gouged out her eye to match her father's when she was fifteen.

Deathstroke personally handed them both over to the Light.

He would one day have a seat at their table, but first, he would usurp Sportsmaster's position.

* * *

Roy Harper's right arm had been amputated, a little past his elbow, so only a stump remained. He had been kept under heavy anesthesia for a while, combined with Deathstroke's serum. He was lucid for a brief moment when he was ordered to train.

But,his limbs still felt heavy and his mind still felt foggy. He felt as he jumped, and took down various G-Gnomes that he should be wondering where he was, and why he was doing this, and why he was missing an arm. None of that seemed important for some reason. So, Roy quickly dismissed his unease. He kept fighting. Training is my order, he thought blankly to himself.

I follow my orders.

It was hard to focus too long on anything except the orders.

* * *

They had parachuted down in the cover of darkness. The royal family of South Rhelasia was unaware that they would soon all be murdered.

Silently, and very easily, Speedy shot down the first guards with a crossbow.

Ravager lunged forward, katanas swinging and cut down any others. They did it with no mercy. Speedy remembered nothing other than the mission, the objective, and his orders. That was what he lived for.

The others similarly had blank, glassy eyes. They all had dark, murderous, and shark like, unfeeling eyes.

They all moved in, guards eliminated, security systems offline, there was no one left to save the family. The schematics of the compound showed where the bedrooms were.

Roy went in to the first bedroom; he directed Ravager and Kid Devil to the second. Tara and Joseph took the third.

On the bed lay Prince Uimen and Princess Yi Bang-ja nee, Roy took out a sai and moved right next to the sleeping figures.

He was struck with a feeling that he shouldn't be doing this, that it was wrong, he struggled and stood there for a moment, sai in hand, fighting against the overwhelming feeling.

It died down.

He remembered the mission. He murdered them both in their bed, it was very quick, and they didn't even wake up. The bed sheets could hardly soak up all the blood.

* * *

"The mission went perfectly." Ra's stated to Luthor as he and the rest of the Light watched the team, broadcasted from satellites.

"Did you really doubt them that much?" Luthor asked smiling.

"Yes, I did. I doubted whether a _sidekick _could kill. I did not think the boy could do it." Ra's Al Ghul said.

"It appears that he can and quite efficiently." Vandal Savage stepped forward. His scarred visage had the slight hint of approval at the team.

"And it's just another pawn playing its part in our ultimate endgame."

* * *

Afterwards, they were podded, loaded up, and frozen again until the Light wanted to use them again.

They went on a few more assignations. Many were staged to look like natural causes. Simple illnesses, all the deaths completely unrelated with no connections linking the victims.

The clone of Roy Harper was growing older.

The original hadn't aged at all.

The clone was completing his programing. He would soon infiltrate the Justice League. He was eighteen physically, biologically only three years old. He had struck out on his own, to earn the Leagues' respect, and completely unaware that he was preprogrammed to do so. That he was the sleeper agent.

The original was training with his handler, Sportsmaster. Roy rushed him, and tried to sweep his feet out from under him. Sportsmaster dodged and when Roy tried to summersault back, grabbed him and threw him to the floor.

"C'mon kid. Is that the best you got?" taunted Sportsmaster easily pinning him down.

Roy tried to get a bit of leverage. It was hard with one hand. Finally, he twisted his leg to kick Sportsmaster in the side, and flip him with both his legs free. Roy landed back in a crouch. He dodged a lance thrown at him. He flew up and kicked Sportsmaster in the jaw, knocking him down.

"There we go, baby arrow." Sportsmaster spat out blood. "I knew you had it in you."

Roy stood at attention.

"I guess that's enough for today. You have no further orders."

"Yes, sir." Roy said at once.

Lawrence Crock almost felt proud of the boy. If only his own daughters could become such obedient little killing machines. One almost was, but his little girl, Jade was anything but obedient and his baby girl, Artemis had joined the side of angels. But, he was sure it wouldn't last too much longer.

He would soon be heading out to extract information from the clone of the boy in front of him and to feed him instructions.

Roy was heading back to his pod.

Dubbilex put him inside, and spoke to him telepathically.

_It's not long now._

_I will restore your mind. And the others minds, as well._

_But, it will be up to you to save them and save yourself._

_They will let you and the others out for programming. _

_You must escape then._

Roy felt everything return. His mind was finally clear. He almost screamed, he was horrified with what he had done. What he remembered.

But, he wasn't beaten yet. His eyes gleamed with overwhelming ferocity. It was not over. He could take back his life.


End file.
